Ilena

11

"It's been hours where the hell are they?" I stress as I pace the front windows.

"I'm sure their fine stop worrying so much." Blake sooths as he hands me a cup of coffee, more because it’s the only thing in the cabin to eat or drink, I took a sip.

"Oh my, Blake you couldn't find anything to make that tasted better?" I asked disgusted as I ran back towards the kitchen.

"I did but this did the job rather well I think." He said smiling behind his cup.

"Jackass!" I say under my breath as I find the sugar sitting on the counter right next to the coffee pot.

"I heard that." Blake shouted though the house. It was an old cabin, everything was wood, from the walls, to the chairs, to the countertops. There were some odd decorations here and there, all of a rustic outdoorsy type of nature. A thick layer of dust covered everything but nothing the blankets weren't covering. I was just praying it had hot water for a shower.

I heard some laughing from outside and knew it was the guys, I finished mixing my coffee, their scents wafting into the kitchen just as I was walking through its door and back into the living room. It was then I scented him and crushed my mug in my hands, just before he walked in the door behind Charles and Evan.

"What the hell is he doing here?" I asked angrily but my mind went blank when I saw his face, he was very handsome, short tousled brown hair, deep green eyes, strong jaw line, with tan skin, I had to make sure I wasn't drooling really. Wow, what a perfect specimen, but he kind of looks familiar, his green flannel shirt and blue jeans sculpted to his body perfectly. He reminded me of the men I met when I was first turned or maybe before...holy s**t its Nolan the GQ model outside of the jewelry store.

"Hey calm down, this is Fox, that friend I told you about before you went to meet Mr. Fritz. I didn't realize his mission would lead into our side of the mountain but a happy mistake I guess. Fox this is Ember a good friend of mine, her body guard Blake and her Uncle Fritz." Evan said introducing everyone, Nolan didn't seem to recognize me or know what I am to him at all. I vaguely recognized him introducing Sarah and Cara as I walked back into the last of the four bedrooms, all the way in the back. Deciding that I was in desperate need of one and that my rattled emotional state could use a good steam, I decide to take a shower, even if it was cold it would be good for me. I stripped, my pants and boots gave me a hard time because of the mostly dried up mud. Once removed I stepped into the bathroom and turned on the water for the shower, hoping the hot water would come on I let it run for a moment as I looked in the mirror, I realized the wound I had received for the shot gun blast was still not fully healed as I pulled back the gauze to look at it. I would need more blood and I didn't exactly know where I would be getting that from anytime soon.

A half an hour later I was dressed once again, in an off the not wounded shoulder green top that cinched at the waist with long sleeves, a new pair of dark wash skinny jeans and I had cleaned out my boots to wear them again. I repacked my bag just in case and went to see about a meal and hopefully avoid Nolan or Fox or whatever he wanted to be called.

But upon opening my door I nearly slam into a large chest, looking up a few inches finds me staring into his deep green eyes. I take a step back and a deep breath, but that doesn't help, now his scent is filling me, surrounding me.

"Oh, Um, I came to apologies for earlier. I hadn't realized Theo had attacked you because I had been lagging behind, I only attacked you because it looked like we were being threatened. I am sorry I attacked you and if I caused you any harm.” He said sounding sincere. I didn't really know what to say to that, and suddenly I started to feel lightheaded and gripped the door frame to keep upright.

"It's alright, I've been through worse." I say as confidently as I can in my current state.

"Are you alright?" He asks and reaches out to me as I feel like I'm starting to tip over.

"Whoa girl, I've got you." Evan says as he catches me out of no where and cradles me in his arms, then carries me back towards my bed. "Just needs to feed is all, I've got it Fox if you can close the door for me." Evan says and 'Fox' does as he's asked but doesn't seem to like it.

"You’re going to rub this in his face later aren't you?" I say quietly.

"You bet your sweet ass I am but until then you still need to feed and since you seem dead set on not saying anything to him yet, I will be your willing donor." He says happily and pulls me onto his lap to straddle him. "And don't worry I won’t try any funny stuff…for the most part anyway." He laughs, making me smile and I sink my head in the crook of his neck and shoulder, and gently bite down with my elongated fangs. He moans and I grip his shoulders tightly as I feel a pop and blood gushes into my awaiting mouth. Sweet and rich and full of power, it’s not what I'm craving but it’s a close second...for now.

After I have my fill and Evan is still ok, I remove myself from his lap and sit down next to him on the bed.

"Are you ok?" I asked tentatively.

"Yeah, I'm fine are you good to go now?" He asked as he patted my knee.

"Yeah, have we figured out what our next move is?" I asked as I fidgeted with my hair.

"Darious called me, somehow he heard about what had happened. He's relieved to know you’re alright and has his plane waiting to take us to Scotland and stay in his cabin for another couple of days while he settles his people down from the declaration of war that queen vampire has struck down. I came in here to tell you that when you tried to pass out, what was that?" He asked sounding worried.

"My shoulder hadn't fully healed, I think that plus my hunger plus you know who just sent my senses into over drive." I admit.

"No worries love, your secret is safe with me." He says and stands pulling me off of the bed with him. He grabs my bag, handing it to me as we head into and down the hall. The living room is packed full of 'Fox's' men and my own and all eyes turn to me as we enter the room. I know this because Evan goes to grab his bag on the other side of the room and not a single one changes their sight path.

'Well s**t what the hell am I supposed to say now.' I think. Screw it. I keep my pissed of look and push past them to the outside, where Sarah and Cara are standing guard.

"Nice to see a familiar face." Sarah says, sounding like she's not too happy to see all the Titans either.

"Yeah, any trouble?" I ask checking my shoulder, it seems to have healed a bit more than the last time I looked.

"No not really just a bunch of men that have more power than they deserve and more attitude than they can afford." Cara said and I can hear the contempt in her voice.

"What about all this collaboration, how are you two with the idea of all this?" I ask them both, turning to look at them.

"I go where she goes and she's decide to go where Charles goes, so as much as I hate these pompous assholes, it has nothing to do with their kind. We're with you all the way." She said proudly, well at the end at least.

"Good, because this isn't going to get any easier. In my case it’s only going to get more complicated, I need to know that you are in this for the long hull." I asked quietly but I wasn't really trying to hide our conversation.

"We're in." Sarah states firmly and Cara nods.

"We're all in for the long hull now precious." I hear a gruff voice say behind me and turn to find Theo staring at me. He steps toward me looking menacing but he doesn't scare me in the slightest. "So you’re calling the shots now princess? You know what I was just thinking of...how your delicate little neck felt when I was crushing it in my hand." He growled down at me.

"See and I was just remembering how great it felt when I tossed you on your ass and how wonderful it would feel to do it again." I smiled wickedly as put up my hand facing him and let my spark flow around it and down my arm.

"Why you little..." He says but 'Fox' steps out of the cabin in that moment and places a hand on his chest stopping him instantly, he leans in close to his ear and says something that I can’t hear. I watch as Theo seems to go white and then saunters off away from the group exiting the cabin, cursing under his breath. Evan walked out shortly after and came up, wrapped an arm around my neck and started walking away from the cabin, I saw 'Fox' visibly frown as he did but he seemed confused by his reaction.

"Which direction are we going instigator?" I ask him trying to sound happy, but I'm not sure it’s really working.

"Instigator? You’re the one trying to get in fights out here.” He chuckles. “We've got maybe an hour trek before we get back into the city, from there the plane is waiting at the airport for us." He says and pulls me in the direction he pointed, this is going to be a long walk if the last five minutes were any indicator.

"So are they going to be joining us?" I ask Evan quietly.

"Fox is here because I asked him to come, the rest follow him. So yes they will be joining us, why?" Evan whispered.

"Is that a problem?" 'Fox' asked his deep tone vibrating through my chest making it hard not to visibly shiver as he came to walk beside us, Evan removed his arm from around my neck and shoulders. I think he was tired of pushing his luck for once.

"Wondering whose side they are on." I said nodding toward his men. "I received a room full of angry glares back there and I don't really need to be worrying about one of them stabbing me in the back while I sleep."

"Their angry because you landed them on their backs down in that tunnel, it’s to be expected, most of them will get over it but I'll be keeping an eye on them if they get any bright ideas." He said as he fixed a bag over his shoulder and looked down at me.

"I'm sure you'll be able to watch all of your super powered buddies all of the time." Blake states sarcastically.

"They are part of a special unit of elites, handpicked by Darious Avent, himself. When he heard that Evan asked for my help he was more than willing to send the whole team into the fray. As for your concern, I can watch all of them by simply watching her." He said and then I smacked Blake's arm.

"Ow." He said and rubbed the spot, playing it up.

"You deserve so much more than that and you know it." I said irritated but smiled at his mock pain.

An hour and a half later we were boarding Darious Avent's large but private jet, it fit all of us easily and soon after we were all settled, we were taking off. The inside more resembled the dining car of a train rather than a plane, only smaller and looking much more comfortable. I sat near the cockpit, if something went wrong I wanted to be the first to know. Evan sat across from me, Charles and Sarah sat together on the other side of the isle and Cara sat across from them, Blake sat behind Evan so he could keep an eye on our new found friends and Fritz sat across from him. 'Fox' sat a few tables back but I noticed he had a direct eye line to me though he wasn't using it, the rest of his men scattered around the plane trying to make themselves comfortable.

Once we hit thirty seven thousand feet or so and were allowed to move about the cabin, Evan got up and went towards the back of the plane. The move made me a bit nervous but catching the eye of 'Fox' let me know he was in no danger. I slipped off my boots and pulled one of my knees up to my chest just as I saw him coming back with a box, he set it down on the table and started opening it.

"Our wonderful host insisted on giving his...guest a gift and given all we have been through I suggested something strong!" He announces and pulls a bottle of dark liquid out of it.

"He does realize that buying me expensive gifts won’t make me like him." I say as I take the bottle from him, it’s a bottle of bourbon aged twenty years, "Though being drunk might, good choice. You will tell him of my appreciation the next time you talk?" I ask looking up at Evan as he hands me a glass and I start to open the bottle. I pour a little in two glasses and Evan and I taste its divinity.

"Fox, come you must try this." He said as I swirled the robust liquid around my tongue. A moment later Fox was sitting across from me and I was pouring bourbon into his glass, as Evan took the box back to the back of the cabin and returned to sit beside me.

He took a sip and nodded his enjoyment to Evan, "You know I wasn't where you thought I was, I've been back for about eight years now." 'Fox' said explaining something I wasn't a part of.

"I guess I figured you'd call if you went back to your normal life." Evan said trying to hold the resentment back but not quite achieving his desired result.

"You could have kept in touch, I haven't heard of any missions for you." 'Fox' said holding his ground but not sounding condescending, god his voice was sexy. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back as my bourbon wielding arm propped up on my bent leg.

"She's been my mission for a very long time." Evan said with a gentle tone to his voice, one that I hadn't heard as of yet.

"Why is she so special?" He asked curiously.

"If Darious didn't tell you...I can’t say until were...alone." Evan said quietly.

I vaguely heard a conversation near the back of the plane and turned my head to listen more closely. There were three of his men sitting at the second to last booth on the right side of the plane, all huddled together.

It was barely a whisper,

Conspirator 1: "We should just kill them now."

Conspirator 2: "We should have done it before we got on the plane, they found her for us all we had to do was get it done and sneak away. We are only getting paid for her not the rest and I don't feel like dying today."

Conspirator 3: "If we kill them now the whole crew will come down on us, we should wait until we land."

Conspirator 2: "Right, take them on the way to the other cabin."

Conspirator 1: "She’ll never know what hit her!"

That's what they think, "Evan can you find me some paper and something to write with?" I asked softly and gave him a look that said not to ask any questions. He got up and rummaged through his bag until he came back with a sketch pad and drawing pencil and handed it to me with a curious look on his face. Evan read it while I wrote and once I knew he understood I passed it across the table to 'Fox'. Evan started up an idle conversation with Charles but I kept my eyes on 'Fox' to ensure he knew what I had written about what his men said was true. He frowned deeply as he looked up at me and slightly raised his hand, I assumed he meant he would take care of it but we would talk about it further once we were off of the plane.

"Thank you for the drink but I must have a word with my comrades on strategy for when we land." 'Fox' said casually and walked towards the back of the plane before I could say a word. I watched as he spoke with a couple different guys and then ended up at the table full of conspirators, he pulled them towards the back of the plane and into a separate cabin. None of them looked the wiser but still taking three on one might be a bit of a challenge.

I refilled my glass and pushed Evan out of the seat, taking a step towards the back of the plane when Evan gently grabbed my elbow.

"Where are you going love?" He asked casually.

"Just going to find some ice, would you like some?" I asked trying to answer normally to his unasked question.

"I would love some." He said and released my arm, seeming to go back to his conversation with Charles but I knew he would be watching me the whole way. I turned and started my walk to the back of the plane where 'Fox' had taken those men, pretending to go looking for ice. I was about half way back when I heard one of the men making a snide comment.

"All this for a piece of ass, should have told Darious he was on his own for this one." Yet another gruff voice says, I turn to see a large man sitting next to another large man, they look like twins with chin length dirty blond hair, scared faced and dirty looking clothes. I lean on the table and grin down at them.

"You shouldn't talk of things you know nothing about, because saying the wrong thing on this plane, in this group, could get you killed very easily. We're all on edge don't make it worse with your own selfish stupidity." I stated and then turned and went on my way, Cara was right most of them are just turning out to be cocky bastards. I had been hoping she was wrong about some of them.

I make my way into the steward’s station and peek through the curtain but just as I do the plane lurches and sends me flying and I slam into the side of the cabin but a moment later the plane straightens. I'm rubbing my head when I feel a strong arm wrap around my back and another grabbing my hand and lifting me upward or at least I think it’s upward. I open my eyes to see 'Fox' staring down at me, curiously but he has a cut on his lip, I guess I know what he's been doing.

"You can’t seem to keep yourself out of trouble can you?" He says grinning slightly.

"What and let you have all the fun, I don't think so." I say motioning to his lip and now that I look there's a cut next to his eye. He touches his finger to his lip letting go of my hand but not removing his arm from around me, not that I want him to but normally this might look a little strange.

"Hmm." He sounds out but frowns.

"I'm assuming you wanted to keep this quiet?" I ask and he nods, "If you don't mind I think I can help." He nods again and I bite my thumb, making it bleed and slowly bring it up to his brow and gently swipe it across the cut, no sooner have I moved my thumb has the cut been heal and I do the same to his lip. Slowly dragging my finger across the cut on his soft lip, I don't think I have ever wanted to kiss anyone more than in that moment, what was waiting for, why hadn't I told him. "That should do it." I said quietly pulling away, but he caught my hand, slowly brought it to his mouth and gently licked the excess blood from my finger.

"Ember, did you find that ice?" Evan called and instantly "Fox' and I broke apart though I don't know why, maybe he thought I was with Evan. I would have to clear that up quickly, I don't know how much more of this I'll be able to take but I have to remind myself that I barely know him, that's why I haven't said anything yet, that’s why I'm waiting.

"No, my drink spilled when the plane went sideways." I said solemnly but couldn't take my eyes off of 'Fox', who couldn't take his eyes off of me.

"Are you alright?" Evan asked from behind me.

"Yeah, I'll be right there." I said absentmindedly but I heard his steps leading away and back towards his seat.

"I should help you back to your seat just in case you have a concussion." He said quietly, even though vampires don't get concussions. I nodded and he carefully helped me back to my seat and then resumed his original seat, but even though he was farther away he still kept his eyes glued to me. He knows something, I just don't know if he knows what it is, I have to know more about him before he finds out. If he is what I think he is, he isn't just another fling and I need to know that his secrets aren't going to break me and that mine won’t break him.